More than 1 in 10 deaths globally was caused due to smoking in 2015 and over 50% of them took place in just four countries, one of which was India.

Over 11% of 6.4 million deaths worldwide was caused by smoking in 2015 and 52.2% of them took place in China, India, USA, and Russia.

The estimates are based on the Global Burden of Disease study published in medical journal The Lancet.

Family court judge breaks world record

The principal judge of a family court in Muzaffarnagar has set a Guinness World Record by disposing of as many as 6,065 cases in 327 working days.

The name of judge is Tej Bahadur Singh.

The judge said that his move was aimed to reduce the number of pending cases in the court and provide justice to the litigants.

Malala-youngest UN Messenger of Peace

Malala Yousafzai is to become the youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Yousafzai will be appointed on April 10 by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and will help promote girl’s education around the world as part of her new role.

She came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012 as punishment for campaigning for girls education.

Shyam Kumar wins gold in Thailand Int’l

Indian boxer K Shyam Kumar (49kg) clinched a gold medal at the Thailand International Tournament in Bangkok without even stepping inside the ring for his summit clash.

Shyam, who won a gold at the 2015 edition of the event, was to take on Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan in the final.

He however pulled out after an injury.

“Bharat ke Veer” web portal

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the web portal and mobile application named “Bharat ke Veer” on April 9.

The portal is an IT based platform, with an objective to enable willing donors to contribute towards the family of a braveheart who sacrificed his/her life in line of duty.

The amount so donated will be credited to the account of ‘Next of Kin’.

North India to get DNA bank for wildlife

North India is all set to get its first DNA bank for wildlife.

Scientists at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly are in the process of collecting DNA samples of all wild animals to set up the bank.

At present, the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) in Hyderabad

Book on Draupadi

A book on Draupadi written by senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily was released by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on April 7.

Published by Rupa, Flaming Tresses of Draupadi is an English translation by D A Shankar of Moily’s original work in Kannada.

The book traces the life and journey of Draupadi from her birth to her marriage with the Pandavas.

Bengal gets 23rd district

West Burdwan district was carved out of Burdwan by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, making it the 23rd district.

The new district comprises Burdwan Paschim, Asansol and Durgapur. With the division, the agrarian parts of Burdwan now fall under East Burdwan, while the industrial hub will come under West Burdwan, which has two sub-divisions – Asansol Sadar and Durgapur.

The Centre has decided to revive the North Koel Irrigation project, envisaged nearly 40 years ago, to address water requirements in Jharkhand and Bihar.

When completed, the project, estimated to cost Rs 1600 cr, is expected to irrigate 1 lakh hectares of land in the two states.

Though 90% of its works, costing nearly Rs 800 cr, was completed by 2007 it was stopped to clearance issues.

Govt ties with Google for net security

The government has collaborated with Google India for raising awareness about internet safety among consumers.

The National Consumer Helpline has tied up with 230 companies for faster redressal of consumer grievances and complaints.

Two mobile applications have also been developed to redress consumer grievances.

India, ADB sign loan

India and the Asian Development Bank have signed a loan agreement to improve the country’s solar power transmission system.

India and ADB have signed a $175 million loan agreement to support construction of high-voltage transmission systems to evacuate power generated from new mega solar parks to the interstate grid, and improve reliability of the national grid system.

Indian internet economy to hit $250b

Mobile internet users in India are estimated to touch 650 million by 2020, up from about 390 million now.

The report was published by Boston Consulting Group and The Indus Entrepreneurs.

Fueling the internet economy will be data consumption, which by 2020 could potentially increase 10-14 times.

IOA grants affiliation to BFI

The Indian Olympic Association has granted affiliation to the Boxing Federation of India, ending a long-standing impasse between the two bodies.

The affiliation ends a logjam that goes back to September last year when BFI took charge of the sport after elections conducted in the presence of International Boxing Association and sports ministry observers.

1st NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017 in New Delhi.

The slogan of the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit is, ‘Unite for a Healthy Mind’.

He also launched the eCAP & SOL’s Telepsychiatry application for the rural and urban population in need of mental health consultation.

India 9th in business corruption

India ranks 9th among 41 countries in bribery and corrupt practices in businesses, according to the findings of a recent survey.

Nearly 78% respondents queried in the country said that bribery and corrupt practices happen widely in businesses here.

The report was published by the EY Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) Fraud Survey 2017.

Device to protect astronauts

NASA scientists have developed a new device to monitor harmful radiation exposure, which may help keep astronauts safe during deep-space missions such as the manned mission to Mars.

The Fast Neutron Spectrometer is designed to detect and measure the energy of neutrons, which are known to be specifically harmful to humans.

India rises to 101 in FIFA rankings

India have climbed an unprecedented 72 places in the Fifa rankings in two years.

India is now ranked 101, the highest since 1996.

India’s highest on the Fifa list was 94th in February 1996.

India are now ranked 11th in Asia above Jordan, Oman, North Korea, Iraq and Thailand. They are two slots below China and one behind Qatar.

India rankings 2017

The President Pranab Mukherjee, will be releasing the India Rankings 2017 report on April 10 at a function to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

He will also present awards to top-ranked institutions i.e. top 10 in overall category & toppers in the stream-wise categories -Engineering, Management etc.

The National Institutional Ranking Framework was introduced in 2016 to rank Indian Universities.